Brigham Young University molecular biology student Lisa Higginbotham has been named as a recipient of the prestigious National Institutes of Health and Cambridge University Scholarship in Biomedical Research.
The scholarship, developed by Cambridge University and the NIH in 2002, is a highly selective academic award for candidates involved in biomedical research. The scholarship includes tuition, insurance, a computer, a living stipend and travel expenses between continents for educational purposes.
As one of 14 students chosen to study at either Oxford or Cambridge out of more than 250 applicants, Higginbotham will be supported in her research as a full-time student and receive a doctoral degree from Cambridge University. In the combined program, she will spend half of her time at Cambridge University in England and the other half at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.
Higginbotham will immediately begin working in the lab because the British system starts with research instead of classes. She said her outstanding undergraduate experience at BYU qualified her for the scholarship.
“BYU focuses on giving undergraduate students research opportunities, like the project I am working on for my honors thesis,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to learn such an advanced and technical procedure to create transgenic mice without several one-on-one mentors. My undergraduate research and courses at BYU was reflected in my application and prepared me to move directly to research with this incredible opportunity.”
“I know a lot is expected from me as a recipient of this scholarship, and I want to make sure that I work hard to make progress in science, as well as represent BYU,” she said.
For more information, contact Michael Lenardo from the NIH at (301) 496-66754 or Lisa Higginbotham at (801) 592-7249.
Writer: Angela Fischer
